Quick Hits: Phillies, Rangers, Brewers, Tigers, Padres

The Rangers, Brewers and Tigers stand out as potential trade partners for the Phillies, observes Ryan Lawrence of PhillyVoice.com. In the cases of the Brewers and Tigers, Lawrence suggests the Phillies could put together a package to acquire an established corner outfielder in Ryan Braun or J.D. Martinez (Philly did inquire last month about Martinez, who’s entering a contract year). Texas, meanwhile, showed interest in Phillies starter Vince Velasquez last summer, leading Lawrence to wonder if the teams could strike a deal centering on the hard-throwing right-hander and power-hitting corner infield/outfield prospect Joey Gallo.

Rangers president/general manager Jon Daniels doesn’t seem eager to try reliever Matt Bush as a starter, which is fine with the right-hander. “I’ve never started professionally. I feel great with where I’m at as a reliever right now,” Bush told T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com. “I feel like it’s the best place for me right now. I still have some building to do with my arm. My career is very young. I just want to continue to do what I did last year.” Bush, 30, recorded a 2.48 ERA, 8.9 K/9 and 2.04 BB/9 in 61 2/3 innings last year, making the ex-convict, former shortstop and 2004 No. 1 overall pick an unexpected success story.

Because Jankowski comes with top 10 if not top 5 center field defense, has already proven he is a threat to steal bases since he had 30 last year despite not playing due to jay early on, had a .332 OBP due to 11% walk rate, and comes with 5 years of control. That doesnt come cheap to het a defensive star. Look at what the angels gave up for andreltom simmoms, top 100 propsect in newcomb for 6 ish years of control. While I doubt the padres get a top 100 prospect they certainly can get more than anibal and iglasias for 2 years.

Jankowski also had a totally unacceptable strikeout rate and has absolutely no power at all. He’s redundant with Margot in center and on a powerless roster. He’s a fourth outfielder. He’s Peter Bourjos.

Who cares if you have redundancy esp if jankowski moves to LF and you have margot, jankowski, renfoe. You could put jose bautista out there in RF and with the defensive capabilities of margot and jankowski he wouldnt be as big of a hinderance.

As far as the strikeouts go. You look across baseball and only mike trout and Dexter fowler had better walk rates than jankowski. As for his k% of the top 5 k% leaders jankowski had a better walk% than 4. Also who cares about power. His speed turns singles and walks into doubles even triples as we seen last year due to errant throws. A single and walk and a stolen base is as good as a double. Doesn’t matter how you get there he got there.

As for power. Myers Renfoe Schimpf are all 20+ home run types. The point of the game isnt score the most home runs its score the most runs. And with petco the better bet is have speed on bases so singles and doubles can drive them in moreso than expecting home runs.

I can’t argue with the Borjos comp. Premium defense plus speed but a slap hitter. His K% at the MLB level is twice what it is in his recent minor league career, so there’s reason to hope for improvement as his eye gets more reps, but the fourth OF role is probably his eventual destination.

For now, he’s the most experienced member of the current OF options on the roster, and Margot should spend some time in El Paso to save another year of team control. Once Margot is around, the two make a nice platoon when you look at the splits. Whether they’re on the field at the same time and on opposite ends of the lineup or used to spell the other while Dickerson or someone else starts in LF, there are plenty of options.

As for the power, this team has Wil Myers, Hunter Renfroe Alex Dickerson, Ryan Schimpf, Yangervis Solarte, and others to provide the thump. It’s no Murderers’ Row, but the lineup has potential for power and a nice balance with speed in Jankowski, Margot, Spangenberg, etc.

If you have no power at all though, pitchers are eventually going to not throw you anything to hit. Jankowski’s approach is just that – he sorts through pitches, waiting for one he can slap the opposite way – he had a 46% opposite-field hit rate last year, one of the highest in baseball. Waiting for pitches low and away means he’ll draw a few more walks, yes, but also strike out a lot too. He’s also not a great percentage base stealer, and a banjo hitter in left field and center field isn’t optimal use of those positions. If you’re truly advocating for an approach of singles and speed this is an odd group of players to try it with.

And that line about his speed turning singles into doubles and whatever. He didn’t hit doubles or triples last year; he didn’t steal bases at an effective rate. And he didn’t score runs at anything approaching a good rate for a leadoff hitter.

Yes. How dare Jankowski succeed based on an ability to get on base and steal bases rather than doing so via the almighty home run!
Fourth outfielders don’t have .332 OBP’s (and that will probably go up in due time) and the Padres roster has plenty of power with Renfroe, Dickerson, Schimpf and Myers around.

The Padres are a much better team than they look on paper at this point. It doesn’t appear that Travis Jankowski is in the long term plan. The Padres biggest need is a SS and SP.

Jose Inglesias is an extremely strong defender. However, he’s been hurt much of his career so far. I believe that when he sees a full season, his value will be much higher in the eyes of MLB fans. Anibal Sanchez pitched significantly better in the second half of last season than he has since his injuries two seasons ago. When I’ve watched games he pitched in, Sanchez as well as Justin Verlander seem to be regular victims of the Tigers poor defense.

Jankowski for Inglesias and Sanchez doesn’t make sense for either team.

When you look at his scouting reports and his minors stats, Jankowski has always been a guy that can hit for average and had a low K rate. That he struck out at a high rate in his rookie season in the majors is not an indication for me of how he is going to do going forward. I look for 10-11% BB rate, 12-15% SO rate, .260/.340 with 40 SB in 540 AB.

If he hits .260 no one is going to walk him. If he can flash some power like Villar with the brewers, than maybe. I like the kid, he is fun to watch, but he needs to hit for a decent average to make it as a regular.

If Jankowski is playing left, though, there’s no room for Dickerson. And then you have below-average power in left, center, second, short and third and catcher. You might believe that power isn’t important, but most good teams don’t punt on it at like 6 positions on the field.

Even if Margot, Jankowski, Renfroe, and Dickerson are all in the majors, there are plenty of ABs to go around. Quality 4th outfielders can easily get 450 ABs in a season (Injuries, DH, etc)..not to mention Dickerson can play 1B too if Myers gets hurt. As for the below average power comment, what are you talking about? At 2B they have Schimpf (20-30 hrs easily), at 3B they have Solarte (15-20 hrs), and Hedges hit over 20 in AAA last year. Not to mention they set the NL record last year for homers in the most consecutive gates with largely the same crew as now.

That record is laughable in its arbitrary meaninglessness. Everybody hits homers in El Paso – Hedges doesn’t project as anything more than a 12-15 homer guy. I doubt the Padres go all season with Schimpf because of his startling defensive inabilities, which means they run Spangenberg out there, and he’s a singles hitter. Solarte’s 15 homers at 3rd are nice, but they aren’t going to make up for a left fielder who hits like 6. And it’s not just home runs – Jankowski doesn’t hit doubles or triples either, spangenberg doesn’t, Hedges won’t, Sardinas can’t hit at all…

Two things come to mind immediately – one, the Padres have virtually no money committed past this season. This sounds like a great thing but the union is going to have something to say about it. Remember when the Marlins tried the “zero-payroll” approach and the MLBPA basically forced them to spend some money. Certaily the teams that are giving the Padres revenue-sharing cash would have something to say about it too. No, San Diego doesn’t need to run a 100 million dollar payoll, but they’re going to be in trouble if they don’t spend at least some money.

Two, I think the Padres should be looking bigger than Iglesias. He’s not really that good. Jankowski isn’t particularly good either – good defense and he’s fast but he’s just not going to ever be much of a hitter with his approach at the plate. I’d be more interested in Jurickson Profar, with Jankowski being one piece of the trade. The Padres could afford to re-sign Profar if he establishes some value again, or even trade him in a couple years. He comes with a higher floor than Iglesias. For all the trades and International FA signings, I’m still not seeing an obvious shortstop candidate for the near future in San Diego. Luis Sardinas isn’t going to cut it. Cordoba might be a good defensive player, but guys that take 5 years to get out of rookie ball aren’t usually prospects.

Iglesias isn’t making any money so trading for him won’t make the MLBPA happy if they come after us for not spending money and he would cost controllable talent so no thanks.
And no on Profar. He’s a free agent after 2019. If we trade for him best case scenario we contend in his last year before free agency. If we want him so much we should just wait three years and then sign him in the offseason.

There is no doubt that Profar comes with a higher ceiling than Iglesias, but as their respective RESULTS have shown, not a higher floor. Iglesias also plays every day. Profar has yet to show he can play a full season.

Other than fans on boards like this where have you ever read from a reputable source that the Padres were talking about trading Jankowski for Iglesias? All I have ever read was the Padres were offering prospects and at this point, Jankowski is not a prospect. Rondon, Guerra and other SS prospects should be ready for 2018-2019-2020. Iglesias would be a stopgap measure to give them time to develop. We WILL trade or sign a shortstop. There is no question about that. There is nothing beyond Sardinas at the MLB level and we have to have at least 2 that can man the position, especially with an unproven player like Sardinas.

No, giving young, unproven players like Sardinas a chance to prove themselves is EXACTLY what a team in the Padres current situation should do. Trading legitimate prospects for any stopgap (no matter how good he might be) makes no sense for the Padres at this point. Trading controllable talent for one or two years rentals is the exact opposite of what they should be doing. Going into 2017 and 2018 with a shortstop picture consisting of Sardinas, Rondon and maybe a free agent signing like Adam Rosales isn’t optimal, but we aren’t going to contend anyway.
And spare us your comments about how Sardinas isn’t all that good. While you aren’t necessarily wrong about that, getting an upgrade at shortstop isn’t going to make this team a contender in 2017 or 2018. Maybe Sardinas can finally deliver on the potential that made him a top prospect in the Rangers org at one point.

Preller has already said that we WILL be getting another shortstop this offseason. Either we will be signing a major league shortstop like Aybar or trading for a guy like Iglesias. You don’t have a say in that and Preller is much, much smarter than you so if he says that Sardinas isn’t enough, then Sardinas is not enough. NO TEAM goes into a season with a guy as the starter that has never played a full season and hasn’t been very good in the little time he has played as the ONLY MLB ready shortstop on the roster. What part of that do you not understand?

Sardinas has had parts of 3 seasons in the majors and the best he has done is .244. Iglesias is much better both with the glove and the bat

We have $46.7 million in payroll for 2018 including signing all the arb eligible players. That means we have $60-70 million to spend.

What you are really saying is that you don’t believe that Renfroe, Margot, Jankowski, Dickerson, and Hedges are the real deal. You are saying that you really believe that Perdomo, and the rest of the young pitching staff we have really stink and will never make it. You are saying that you believe that Quantrill, Lamet, Maton and Lauer won’t contribute in 2018. If they are the real deal then there is no reason we can’t add starting pitching from that huge FA crop for 2018 and at least contend for a WC.

First off, what exactly has Preller done to prove he is smarter than me or really anyone? I mean he traded away the best player taken out of the 2014 draft who plays a position that has long been his team’s biggest need, traded for Matt Kemp and then refused to trade his expiring contracts at the deadline a year and a half ago because “The returns offered weren’t good enough” even though not trading them meant he would get ZERO return for them. Also, you have been bashing him pretty consistently for the last two years and now you are defending him just because it gives you an excuse to try and argue with me?
No team with any plans on contending in the upcoming season would do that, yes. But the Padres aren’t going to contend in 2017. Everyone on planet Earth knows that, even you. They aren’t going to contend in 2018 either. With that in mind, trading legitimate prospects for Iglesias who can simply leave after 2018 makes no sense. Although signing Aybar might make sense.

Sardinas has had parts of 3 seasons in the majors and the best he has done is .244. Iglesias is much better both with the glove and with the bat.

We have $46.7 million in payroll for 2018 including signing all the arb eligible players. That means we have $60-70 million to spend.

What you are really saying is that you don’t believe that Renfroe, Margot, Jankowski, Dickerson, and Hedges are the real deal. You are saying that you really believe that Perdomo, and the rest of the young pitching staff we have are bad and will never make it. You are saying that you believe that Quantrill, Lamet, Maton and Lauer won’t contribute in 2018. If they are the real deal then there is no reason we can’t add starting pitching from that huge FA crop for 2018 and at least contend for a WC.

To be fair, a good number of those expiring contracts turned into extra draft picks for the Padres after the season, so it wasn’t a total loss. Other than that, the Kemp trade does look pretty bad now, and not having trea turner also hurts. Heck, they wouldn’t even be in this shortstop predicament right now if they would have kept turner.

The Mets offered us Michael Fulmer for Justin Upton and Preller said no. That may have been before Fulmer truly broke out in 2016, but even then it was hard to imagine him having less value than that draft pick. And apparently the best offer we got for Kennedy was the Cubs offered us Junior Lake. Hudson Sanchez has a fair shot at eventually developing into something better than Junior Lake but at the time it was highly questionable whether or not Kennedy was worth the QO. I still have no clue how he got the contract he did, especially when he cost the Royals a draft pick. And then he just let Shawn Kelley walk rather than trading him for SOMETHING.

They need a SS would be a good reason to make the trade. How they see Jankowski in their long term plans could be another. Sanchez would allow them not to rush their young pitching. Iglesias is young enough and cheap enough to be kept beyond his two years. If the Padres see Jankowski as being a bench player (4th OF), it makes good sense if Detroit picks up some salary on Sanchez.

No, needing a SS is not a reason to make that trade. The Padres need a controllable SS, not one that can leave after two years. Even if Manuel Margot ultimately makes Jankowski expendable he’s not getting traded unless the Padres get back something that will help them more. Iglesias won’t do that because he’ll be a free agent before the Padres will be a good team. Trading for Iglesias now doesn’t make him any more likely to sign with the Padres when he does hit free agency so they are better off waiting and signing him in two years and not having to give up prospects. Jankowski is already good enough to be a starting CF and will only get better if he can cut down on the K’s.

Detroit papers report that San Diego offered Jankowski for Iglesias and Detroit said “No”.It does not say if it was straight up-but the paper infers that Tiger management does not believe that Jankowski will hit well enough to be a starter and a one year record is not enough to prove otherwise. They felt a part time CF (or 4th OF) is not worth an All Star SS with 2 more years of control.

I don’t like Detroit & San Diego as a match, the team that makes the most sense is Tampa Bay. They have a good amount of upper level SS depth. I don’t know how they feel about Tim Beckham but they could very well part ways with him, they also have Lucius Fox & Daniel Robertson. I guess it all depends if they are willing to give Willy Adames the starting job yet or not. If not, then this is probably a moot point.

Not quite a moot point. Willy Adames isn’t ready yet (he hasn’t played above AA and probably won’t crack the majors until mid-season next year at the absolute earliest) but Matt Duffy is pretty much locked in as the starter at short and Beckham is definitely on the block

If anything id the padres are trading with the padres id like to see Mark Ecker, Artie Lewicki, Kyle Funkhouser, and Machado for Jankowski, but would rather keep jankowski seeing what the white sox got for eaton. Unlike Eaton Jankowski can play center field without a doubt and is a terror on the basepaths.

You would rather sign a stopgap type shortstop in free agency 2 years from now when we should have 2 maybe 3 better options ready from our farm? Instead of trading some low level prospects for him now and trading him away in a year when Rondon or Urias is ready? Or signing him to an extension if neither of those guys develops? PLEASE don’t even try to trot out some tired line about its impossible to extend guys.

First off, I don’t see Iglesias as a stopgap type shortstop but if you see him that way then why would you want us to trade for him in the first place?
The idea is that in two years, we will have a better idea of what we have in Rondon, Guerra, Sardinas, etc. If one of them develops as hoped, they are our shortstop. If not, then we sign a guy like Iglesias.
It’s not impossible to extend guys, but it’s also not impossible to sign guys on the open market and waiting two years and doing that makes more sense. Exact same outcome, only one lets us keep all our prospects

If you don’t see him as a stop gap then why did you say he was?
Who are the prospects that would be needed to trade for him?
Do you REALLY think that Iglesias is a better player than what Rondon, Guerra or Urias can develop to be?
Sardinas is not as good as Iglesias and never will be. Simply does not have the skills. Scouting numbers and his performance to date tell the story convincingly. Iglesias is better.
If those guys are not ready than to sign a guy like Iglesias in FA would just cost more money than he would cost to extend. Kind of stupid to sign a guy for more money instead of trading prospects that will never be a part of your team for him.

I never called Jose Iglesias a stopgap. His performance in his career indicates that he is good enough to play shortstop for a contending team. But if we traded for him now he would just be filling a spot on a bad team for two years (so basically a stopgap). You don’t trade legitimate prospects for a guy who fills that role.
I am not sold on Rondon or Guerra and from what I have heard Luis Urias will not stick at SS.
You aren’t wrong about Iglesias being better than Sardinas but who is more likely out of the two to help the Padres when they are actually good? (and don’t say we can sign Iglesias because trading for him is not a prerequisite to doing that)
Iglesias is a Boras client. He’s not going to take a single penny less than what he’s worth no matter who he plays for the next two years. And even if those prospects will never be a part of my team they could still be traded for something that won’t just leave after two years.

He’ll be affordable enough to sign even if they don’t trade for him now. Trading for him now only means he will be a Padre for 2017 and 2018. It has no bearing on what he will do after that. So the Padres are better off keeping their prospects and trying to sign him two years from now.

Avilas has already said that Machado would be getting regular starts in 2017, so Iglesias is no longer the starting shortstop. Why would the Padres take on Sanchez’s $21.8 million salary and option buyout?

If anyone thinks Jose Iglesias is a good fit on a rebuilding team they aren’t smarter than anyone. And I say this as someone who would actually like to see Iglesias playing shortstop for the next GOOD Padres team.

People who are obviously smarter and more qualified than you or I because they have jobs in baseball like being a GM and writers PAID to comment on baseball think Iglesias is a good fit.

You can keep whining about it, but it doesnt change the facts that –
A: The Padres will sign or trade for a shortstop this offseason. Sardinas is the only MLB ready shortstop on the 40 man roster. No matter what, we will get another MLB shortstop.
B: Iglesias is better than Sardinas. Better fielder Better bat. Better player.
C: Iglesias would only cost a couple of lower level prospects because the Tigers have already said that Machado is getting the starting job to start the season. As far as I can tell, only you and other fans on boards have said anything about Jankowski for Iglesias straight up.
D: IF Preller trades for Iglesias he can be traded at the deadline/end of the year if Rondon or Urias are ready. He can be extended if neither is ready. If Guerra shows the skills again that made him a top prospect, then Guerra is the starting shortstop in 2019. Trading Iglesias for prospects is a no lose proposition.
E: In 2018 we will have only $46.7 million on the books, meaning we have $60-$70 million to spend, and there will be a huge crop of good to great FA players. One of two things is going to happen next offseason. Either Renfroe, Margot, Dickerson, Jankowski, Schimpf and Hedges are the real deal in 2017 and the Padres make a move to contend in 2018 and beyond by gettting good starting pitching and fill holes in FA. Or those kids don’t cut it and we are another year away. Either way Iglesias is a good fit for 2017.

Those are the things that people smarter than you and I are saying about Preller possibly trading prospects for Iglesias and about the team.

Iglesias can be a good fit on a rebuilding team when your looking for up the middle defense to help young pitchers. Still, give Cordoba a chance to win the job and play like Everth before? That’s the move I want to see for rebuilding Pads.

Cozens is a top prospect and he is a keeper. The Phillies will trade pretty much only pitching if they were to make a deal. For anyone who doesn’t know, Cozens hit 40 homers and drove home a 120 runs and stole 20 bags and got caught only once.

Watch Cozens play and tell me he is not dynamic. The guy is a beast and he can learn how to hit lefties and he has never had major league coaching. Maybe he comes to spring training and hits 10 homers, then what? His value is through the roof.

As much as I like Martinez’s bat as a Phillies fan I’d be unwilling to give up too much for him. Maybe a prospect pitcher example Ben Lively or Nick Pivetta and assume all of Martinez’s salary for 2017. Because he’s going to be a free agent no matter what at the end of this year.
As far as Braun I want nothing to do with him.
In the case of Joey Gallo the Phillies already have a similar or better prospect in Dylan Cozens. Why would they give up Velasquez for him?

Oh my. None of these stats tell us a thing about a player’s defensive ability. Martinez is a quantifiably bad outfielder. We’re long past the days where putouts, assists and errors measure anything useful.

The thing is, he would not cost a lot because of the one year deal and the Phillies can eat his 11mm salary this year and can give them Altherr and Asher and Pivetta. Phils can see what JD can do in their ballpark and can extend him whenever they want to.

Phils should get Martinez just to get people to come to the ballpark. Currently their ticket prices are made for a championship team. Who wants to play 70 bucks to sit downstairs and watch a team that is going to win 70 games. People would come to see Martinez play and that is without mentioning that Franco and Tommy Joe will play be better because JD is in the lineup. I still would rather the Phillies take Brain because he has always played well in Philly and is classified as a star.

J.D. Martinez is not going to entice many people to come to the ballpark. If they want to make a move that brings people to the ballpark, it’s Jose Bautista. Bigger name recognition, and while Martinez is a better candidate going forward Bautista is likely cheaper…he’ll cost 1 player (a 2nd round pick), and odds are the Phillies could get Bautista for a year or two if they pay top dollar.

Braun would be an awful investment. He’s owed a lot of money (nearly $80M); is a PED user, and past the age of 30, and the Brewers want the moon for him. If Braun were on a 1 or 2 year deal, sure, but that $40M he’s owed after 2018 could be better spent on that FA class.

Braun just turned 33 and posted a ..903 OPS in 2016. He just 2 years younger than Cespedes who will make $18 million more than Braun in his age 33 and 34 years. Braun’s every bit the offensive player Cespedes is right now.. Throw out his 2014 season which was affected by a bad thumb that’s since been corrected. Phils won’t get him because they are on his no trade list, but Braun is still worth a lot in a deal.

Give Sardinas a full season. For good or for worse the teams not that good and renfoe asjuae schimpf sardinas jankowski dickerson hedges need playinfg time. That’s what 2017 and 2018 are for.

Come 2019 both Jose Iglesias and Adeiny Hechivarreia are free agents. While not an impressive bat Hechivarreia should come cheaper and offers defensive prowess if the padres are in dire need of a ss, at least go with a guy who is a defensive wizard.

You can’t just “sign him to an extension.” He has to agree to any extension. And seeing how he’s a Boras client I imagine that two years from now he goes to the highest bidder. If that highest bidder happens to be the Padres, he will sign with them regardless of whether or not they trade for him now. So unless Iglesias agrees to an extension as part of the trade (which he doesn’t have to and most likely won’t) then trading for him makes no sense in any way shape or form for the Padres.

It hasn’t happened often, but Iglesias is not going to command top dollar with the recent arrival of top prospects at the position. If the offer is appropriate, I could see him being agreeable. Give the Padres some credit for being able to accomplish a simple signing.

Yes, the Padres can accomplish a simple signing. So what they should do is wait two years and then sign Iglesias away from the Tigers. He’s a Boras client so he’s not going to take an extension before free agency.

Jose Iglesias isn’t anything special, but at the same time, the Padres have no reason to go try to acquire a guy with 2 year of control when the Tigers would want quality young talent. This is the part of the rebuild for the Padres where you role the dice on a young player like Sardinas or Jose Rondon, or you sign a veteran like Erick Aybar

Don’t look st Iglesias’s stats. Watch him play and you’ll see that he is very productive when he plays and makes a difference when he is on the field. I hope the Tigers don’t undervalue him. Only problem is health and maybe someone will give the Pads an injured good this time lol

I meant his advanced aka BS stats. What? Are you gonna tell me Iglesisas as a .275 hitter is bad? Not to mention GG finalist. He is a proven guy and above average for his position. Are you one of he geniuses who said JD Martinez isn’t good either lol. They say he is bad defensively. I don’t care. All I see is a 40 HR bat and pitchers will give better pitches to Franco and Joesph. Is there a stat for that? No. Why was Freeman so good at end of this year? Kemp was behind him. There is no stat for that. It is called baseball and you should watch it sometime.

Hahaha. Read that I said watch baseball. Common Hellen Keller I can’t do everything for you. Not that you will listen to me at all. You evaluate players based on watching them play, not looking at their baseball reference page.

Re: Freeman — that entire argument is sheer narrative and nothing more. Freddie Freeman was hitting .286/.370/.519 on the season at the time of the Kemp trade and .348/.418/.665 in the 42 games immediately preceding the trade.

I’m not sure where or why the whole notion that Kemp was somehow a savior to Freeman’s season came from, but there’s zero merit to it. Freeman was already having a monster season and was one of baseball’s hottest and best hitters long before Kemp was behind him.

Also the “you never played and you’re not a GM” comment re: WAR is pretty strange when virtually every GM in the game uses modern metrics and virtually none of them were Major League players, with rare exceptions like Beane and Dipoto.

I believe in certain aspects,protection helps.not so much in Freeman’s case.having Kemp behind him wasn’t gonna make pitchers wanna test him anymore then w/o him.but in a case like Ryan Howard,where he hit righties good but couldn’t hit lh pitching,having a guy behind him who was strong against lefties,then that forces the opposing managers hand.does he bring in the lhp to face 1 hitter,or does he save the arm and challenge him.

I’d buy the lineup protection thing more if Myers had suddenly started walking a bunch after Kemp got traded. For example, when Adrian Gonzalez played for the Padres opposing pitchers would just pitch around him and he’d walk a ton. However, opposing pitchers weren’t pitching around Myers, they figured out how to get him out and he wasn’t able to adjust. If you’re saying he wasn’t getting any good pitches to hit after Kemp got traded then all I’m getting from that is that Myers swings at bad pitches. That being the case, you need to throw him bad pitches no matter who’s batting behind him.

Doesn’t WAR tells us everything about a player’s skill level Pirch? He only quantifies as 2 games better than replacement level so how can his awesome d impact games nightly?

P.S. if you can’t tell, I believe WAR is the most overrated stat. Not that it isn’t useful; just think people shouldn’t use as main metric for evaluating players. Think GM’s and fans over-value because agents have conned and used it over and over to get clients paid.

Iglesias is an excellent defensive shortstop and when he is healthy he is also an above average offensive hitter. Nevertheless, I agree with you that since the Padres are now rebuilding and possibly during the next two years as well they do not need to trade for someone that will only be controlled during this period. They already have a natural shortstop in Carlos Asuaje who is right now their best chance but who has been forced to play 2B due to the circumstances. This is due to the presence of older and better players always blocking him like Bogaerts and Deven Marrero when he was coming up in the Red Sox organization. Believe me I just happen to see Asuaje play at shortstop at Greenville in 2014 and he was impressive. The Padres should move Sardinas who is a below average defensive shortstop to platoon with Ryan Schimpf at second base where he is much better and move Asuaje to shortstop as a starter. This avoids completely for now having to risk trading for an expensive or another unreliable shortstop that may be available in the market such as Jose Iglesias and the under average defensive Hanser Alberto respectively.

Did Gallo lose much of his trade value? I read an article that Texas already has said he’s starting again in AAA. That’s without seeing what he does in spring training. One team that Gallo makes sense for is the Yankees. They can use a power hitting third basemen who can play first also. Yankees need insurance at first with Greg Bird coming back from major shoulder surgery. Gallo fills both roles plus the left handed power in Yankee stadium is extremely enticing. It seems his name is in every Ranger deal lately on this website.
Scouts seem to be dorm on him also.
If I’m the Yankees I’m offering Gardner and a few young bullpen arms fir Gallo and see if that gets it done.

“I think some people still believe he can adjust…”
Looks like those people aren’t with the Rangers FO.
And he’s shown no signs of adjusting thus far.
His floor is more likely AAA Homer Champ or the Nippon Ham Fighters DH.

Howard had started to decline a bit before tearing his achilles, but that turned out to be disastrous for his “Final Years”. Extremely tough for a Big Man like Howard to snap the achilles on his ‘plant foot” and return to his former level…….especially at the age that it happened.

If he turned out to be ryan Howard I would give Velasquez and Crawford for him lol. Howard was the best hitter in the bigs for 5 years or so. Just a bad extension, that is why the Phillies got nailed with Howard’s second contract.

There was a reason the Rangers & Phillies didn’t make a trade involving Velasquez. The Phillies wanted a return like they got for Ken Giles. The Rangers weren’t willing to do that. I don’t see the asking price or the Rangers willingness to give that up changing now. As for Braun & Martinez, neither one makes a ton of sense for the Phillies. Why would they want to bring in Braun & all his baggage? They don’t need that. As for Martinez, why give up assets for a below average defender who will be a free agent at the end of the season? It makes no sense for them to trade a package of young players for a player like Martinez.

So if the trade assets for J.D. Martinez they’re going to compete for a playoff spot? Not happening in 2017, and it doesn’t make sense to part with assets for a rental player who won’t help them really win and be competitive. Complaining about ticket prices means nothing. Right now they don’t care if fans come or not…Comcast pays their bills and then some. They want what they had from 2007-2012…a sustained run of sellouts generated by an elite team. Dealing assets who may become part of the next run—or who can be used to supplement the team then—makes more sense than trading them now to increase attendance by a few thousand.

Yeah, I agree. By all rights Bush has no business being in baseball but here he is. Like Hamilton, who somebody else mentioned, he’s overcome the disease of addiction and made something of his life after nearly killing a man in a drunk driving incident. He deserved his time in jail, but he also deserves his chance at redemption. As a Padres fan I’ve always hated this guy, although it’s not his fault the Padres picked him first overall when he was clearly not that kind of talent. But I didn’t know the extent of his disease. By all accounts he works very hard on his sobriety and he pitched well last season. I hope whatever money he makes in baseball, some of it goes to his victim.

One thing that bothered me the most last season about Bush was Bannister ordering him to plunk Bautista, in the at-bat that eventually led to the Odor punch. I understand some managers feel the need to engage in that kind of retaliation, and I understand why they waited until Bautista’s final at-bat to hit him for the bat flip from a year before, but don’t ask your rookie with, what is essentially a mental disease that manifests itself in erratic and impulsive behavior, to throw at someone. Bring in a veteran to do the plunking. If Bautista had charged the mound that could have been a triggering event for Bush.

madmanTX: It’s not “thrown in”. It’s in context, if you read the entire paragraph.
And it’s not salacious gossip. It’s a fact and on the record, and it’s cogent to Bush’s story. Bush himself admits it, which he has to in order to move on.
If it bothers you, ask yourself why it bothers you. Maybe it’s part of your projecting “every” and “always” in your comments. Maybe it’s why you chose your particular moniker…..
In reality, it’s no skin off your nose.

I’m not saying it’s wrong. Just unnecessary. A 2 sentence update. The club decided to not makes him a starter. Oh and by the way, he’s an ex con. I get it if was an article about him. It’s prob the first 2 paragraphs. But this, pshhh. Just petty.

The Phils must really like that Texas farm system. They are probably looking for another Cole Hamels return for Velasquez. I’ll take another Eickhoff or two from Texas lol I’m sure Texas would also take another Cole Hamels, but Velasquez is not near as good. He is also injury prone.

Phillies are on Braun’s no trade list that includes everyone but Arizona, San Diego, Dodgers, Angels, Giants or Marlins. He’s stated publically he prefers to stay a Brewer and it’s doubtful he’d accept a deal to any team not on his approved list.

JD Martinez would be a waste of assets for the Phillies. Re-signing him takes too much money away from pursuing Machado and Harper. Now Ryan Braun does intrigue me… and I’d expect the Brewers to eat a portion of that contract given his age, but he’d represent a solid bridge bat in the OF and shows FAs in 2018 that they’re trying to compete Now, not in 3 years.

But like any homer, I’d mortgage the farm to get Mike Trout if given the OP.

Would I rate Machado and Harper as better players than JD? Of course. But to save assets for a possibility, when they might have a certainty in signing a solid offensive player now, doesn’t make much sense. If Philly doesn’t show improvement, those top names may decide they would rather sign with a contender. It’s not just being willing to spend the money, its getting players to agree to take it. Just ask Washington.

Id really prefer the Phils to just be patient.maybe add a lh power bat as a platoon option,but we really don’t have to go out and do anything.

I’m hoping Quinn can come out of the spring as the rf’r and avoid starting Altherr.but no matter how we start the year,by the end of it we could have Quinn,Williams,and/or Cozens added to the of,Crawford at ss,and even Knapp in a platoon at c could give us plenty of options from the left side of the plate.

I know as a fan I’m supposed to want the big names of mlb,but I don’t think we really have to go out and do anything.we already have what we need in the system,and they’re all in aa or above,so they’re close enough for us to be patient.I’m ok with us going with 1 more year of developing and seeing what the young guys can be.then after that we’ll have a better idea of what we’ll have to target in the market.

Joey Gallo ? HELL NO ! If given 500 at bats, he’ll strikeout 250 times. He’s Ryan Howard at his career end, a strikeout machine ! No way I give up that arm of Velasquez for Gallo, OR a 33 year old Braun, thats even more stupid. Not doing it for Martinez either… Bye the time the Phillies are competitive, Martinez will be 32 or 33 at least !

Phillies don’t have many power arms, not giving that away for a kid who hit .204 in 123 ab’s, striking out half the appearances . Texas needs to add for me to do it.

No, no. Velasquez would not be involved for Braun or JD. It would be Gallo and a package for Velasquez. I don’t think it is wise to get Gallo either though. Velasquez should not be trusted anyway because of his injury history

keep in mind Mike Schmidt hit less than 200 his rookie year. Velasquez had a nice year and has a live arm, but he’s not worth a Chris Sale package. Gallo could still be a big star and maybe become a Ryan Howard PRE injury.

on the other hand, the Rangers took KennyRogers and CJ Wilson out of the pen into the rotation with great results. ya just never know. But Bush seems like a poor candidate because he’s always been in the pen for his short career and is not used to going more than a couple innings. Better at this point to keep him either as setup or closer. Sam Dyson had a pretty good year but he seemed to be shaky and didn’t seem to have that shutdown inning you like to see in the 9th so if he falters, Bush could be the guy to come in

In 1961, Roger Maris was having would would be a record breaking season for HR’s. You would think pitchers would have started pitching around Maris. But, you know how many intentional walks he received that year? ZERO! Think it might have had to do with Mickey Mantle hitting behind #9?

Padres shouldn’t trade or sign ANY SS. Sardinas can play the position everyday if he has to and Rodon and Asuaje can step in if need be but Padres should seriously be looking to let their rule 5 pick Cordoba make the team and even try to win the job (as crazy as that sounds). Cards held him overseas and tried to sneak him through by not moving him up and playing him in a full-season league, but he can handle playing shortstop in the majors and hit 362 with 427 OBP in the APP. Obviously the majors is a whole new world but I’d rather see him compete and try to push Sardinas than bringing in a stop-gap and sending him back He’s inexperienced but 21 and talented..